Notre Dame has suspended its men’s swimming program for at least one academic year, athletic director Pete Bevacqua announced on Thursday. The decision comes after an external investigation discovered team culture issues as well as NCAA gambling violations.
“The external review confirmed and expanded on our initial concerns about a deeply embedded team culture dismissive of Notre Dame’s standards for student-athletes, including our expectation that they treat one another with dignity and respect,” Bevacqua said in a statement. “This independent, external review also documented numerous violations of NCAA rules prohibiting gambling on intercollegiate swimming and other athletic competitions despite clear and recurrent training provided to all our student-athletes by our Athletics Compliance staff about those rules. These findings are contrary to the University’s values and all that we stand for in Notre Dame Athletics.”
In June, Sports Illustrated first reported that Bevacqua had sent a letter to athletic department staff, informing them that the school retained a law firm to review the program upon learning of potential issues. Bevacqua told The Athletic earlier this month he couldn’t comment on the investigation as it was ongoing, but its results would be shared with university officials, who would decide what actions to take based on that information. SI reported Thursday that the team created its own sports book to wager on its swimming performances along with other sports, and that a majority of the returning team for the 2024-25 season was believed to have placed bets.
Bevacqua said in his Thursday statement that coaching staff members were not aware of the gambling nor the extent of other troubling behaviors and that team members hid them from the staff. When staff learned of isolated incidents, they treated them “seriously and professionally.” The coaching staff fully cooperated with the review.
“While individual conduct varied, the overwhelming cultural dynamic on the team necessitates a full suspension,” Bevacqua said. “We profoundly regret that the small number of team members who did not participate in the conduct, and those who were planning on joining the team this fall, will also suffer the consequences of this decision. We deeply value our responsibilities as educators and our commitment to our student-athletes, and will work with other University offices as appropriate to provide support to those affected by our decision.
“While we are certainly disappointed by the actions that led to the decision, we recognize that our students make mistakes, and our goal is to educate and support them to the best of our ability. … We appreciate the continued service of the staff to our women’s swimming and diving programs and our men’s diving program during these difficult times.”
The Fighting Irish men’s swimming program sent multiple representatives to the 2024 Paris Olympics. Swimmer Chris Guiliano won gold in the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay, head coach Chris Lindauer was an assistant coach for Team USA and Tyler Christianson swam the 200m breaststroke for Panama. Notre Dame’s men’s swimming and diving team finished second at the 2024 ACC championships. The team came in 10th at the NCAA championships in March, its highest finish in program history.
(Photo: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
